Episode 6 of Season 11’s look at SM24 will be one of the best ones within this season since we are opening the doors to allow you Soccermanagerites to see exactly how we prep prior to playing an upcoming match.
This one in particular will be our first official game as manager of Wolvehrampton Wanderers. So, without further a due, let’s get into our pre- week Match Day preparation!
Monday marks the return of the lads from their day off, and we immediately get straight into our preparation for our visit to Bouremouth 👇We head into the analysis room to go over the opposition. Our first opposition is Bouremouth, a team who is pretty much on the same wavelength as us and is considered a relegation threatened squad which means that we’ll be participating in a “relegation six pointer” from matchday one!After our analysis, the lads get unto the training pitch to perform the bulk of their training sessions prior to the match. Although it may seem random, each training option has been strategically picked based on what we think will work best for the lads.
We start off with your basic stuff like warm ups, rondos and small sided drills, etc. We then head intothe attacking patterns necessary to break down Bouremouth. We then focus on our defensive shape as well as getting the backline to do some isolated work alone. And, we finish off with the tactical aspect of our training with things such as how we expect Bournemouth to set up, and what we’re going to be aiming to do on and off the ball throughout the entire 90…After our session, the AM (Assistant Manager) gives feedback on how players have performed in both the first and reserve teams…A few days pass by and we stay updated with everything going on in the Transfer Market as we face potential questioning from the media during our press conference as to wether or not we have any more plans for the players incomings and outgoings (Haaland to Arsenal is just insane! 🫢)We have our final Pre Match meeting, as there is approximately 56 more hours until kick off… We specifically have a lengthy discussion with our attacking players as to why they will be of extreme importance since we have better fire power than Bouremouth and should be aiming to take the chances that come our way… It’s MATCHDAY! 🟠As the lads prepare for the match, we get a heads up as to how we believe Bournemouth will line up today… 👇They’re expected to play in a 4-2-3-1A, with Adams and Cook pivoting the midfield, while Billing aims to use his engine to both join their front 3 in attack as well as assisting the backline alongside his midfield buddies…We’ve made a mini change to our 3-5-2 from episode 2 since Pedro Neto has not been performing to standards during Pre-season and Nelson Semedo preferring to play slightly deeper. We know that it looks quite lopsided, but it is the sacrifice we’ll need to make to get the best potential outcome from all XI players. We expect to dominate possession and get most of the clear cut chances, in this match… As promised, here are the player roles for each member of the XI and why we’ve chosen to give them said role:
We start off with our Skipper, José Sá who will keep things quiet in goal, our back 3 consists of ‘Stopper’ Max Kilman who will be primarily responsible for covering Neto’s attacking ventures, Santiago Bueno who has the responsibility of pinging from deep as our ‘Ball Playing Defender’, and Ki-Jana Hoever who is responsible for supporting Semedo in possession while also using his pace to stop any potential counter attacks coming from Bouremouth’s left hand side.
The midfield trio are what we like to call “the perfect trio” with a ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ (Mario Lemina), ‘Playmaker’ (Tommy Doyle) and ‘Box to Box Midfielder’ (Jean-Ricner Bellegrade) all complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses which is one of the major reasons we’re so confident of victory within this match. Neto will be our main outlet seeking to get isolated against his DM(R) as our ‘Winger’, while Semedo will aim to deliver some good crosses into the box while always being a willing overlapper as our ‘Wingback’.
Our front 2 have the freedom of Vitality Stadium as they are both tasked with basically doing everything in the “Striker’s Manual” in order to get themselves into goal scoring positions…First order of business…We like to give ourselves rules and guidelines before managing any club. One of those guidelines is that we NEVER boost any player’s rating during the first season since boosts are only to be granted to a player who has performed well throughout the course of a season or seasons, and it simply steals away from the excitement of using what we already have to make the most out of every match, in our opinion…
The lads are in the tunnel, patiently waiting for the referee’s signal. 22 bodies filled with excitement, nervousness, and steadfast concentration. Can Wolverhampton Wanderers commence their season in forward momentum or will it be the beginning of a long and dreary campaign? There’s only one place to be to find out…
The Soccermanager Experience 